I see that a number of bands have been detected around southern NSW in the last few weeks and that it is quite possible for a plague to develop.

Anyone seeing any signs or suffering any effects from these little buggers?

:cheers: Will

None here yet.
reports of them 40-50klm north of here.
Pity we cant harvest them & extract the moisture out of them to replace the rain.

For years, up here I had shocking grasshoppers that were eating literally everything. They've permanently damaged many of my trees, but they killed so many other things. I don't htink they're locusts, they're smaller than that. for several warm seasons they came, and then when the dry realy got bad, they tapered off.

These insect invasions are heartbreaking, 10 times so if they ate your crop, or teh food your animals depend on.

Were they flying ant? they might have been hatching nearby and eating you out to grow up.

Some hoppers at the mine but in very small numbers so far and not flying yet. might be different though if we get some wet weather. they can explode if there is grass where they hatch. No real danger of them doing much here. No green grass to eat here anyway.

What suck is that farmers are responsible for paying for control. they are not weeds and you cannot effectivly stop them from laying eggs on your property. It should be govt funded. For a farmer that has lost yet another crop and has no money, I would not blaming them for turning a blind eye to a hatching on their land.

Hello All,

I have hatchings on my property now in pastures... These little 1st instar nymph less than 4mm were inspected & identified yesterday by a Ranger with the Rural Lands Protection Board.... I have been provided chemical to spray next week once they have sized up to the 3rd instar body length of 8mm.
They are already beginning to band together & I am finding the sheep when walking give notice of where they are in this grass. The sheep don't like walking (with heads down) through these bands either as when disturbed they jump up into thier faces.

Local gardeners hold the belief that a liquid fertilizer known as Charlie Carp once sprayed out in the gardens will protect those plants from being eaten but I do not know if this is right or not...I will tell you if it is because my Wife has bought some & is making ready

The main control chemical is Fenitrothion but a biological control agent Metarhizium (Green Guard*SC) is available for sensitive areas adjacent to waterways etc & organic farming concerns.

Happy trails !

My hoppers were, I think, wingless grasshoppers. They were in shocking numbers for some summers, but not the last few. We had planted a spinney of silver birches, and some from that time are so damaged, they have barely any leaves except at the very ends of the branches, and are putting out lots of catkins. But at least they survived.

Goody, the Charlie Carp thing is a great hint, I'll try anything. I have extensive gardens here and lawns, plus hundreds of trees.

When it was happening, I contacted the rural lands protection board that soaks us for money even though we're residential, (Braidwood branch), and they said it wasn't their job to help with pest invasions.

There was some measure where you soaked grain? in soem chemical and left it in bands for them. Trouble is it'd do for the birds, too.

Hi ant !

I sympathise with what has happened your way ... I wonder if this Metarhizium (Green Guard*SC) which is made from an Australian fungus that attacks both locusts & grasshoppers might do the trick for you ? Bet it is as dear as poison ! To coin a phrase

It does take 8-18 days to kill them so best to only use on newly hatched as they will continue to eat during this time. By the way SC stands for suspended concentrate

Look up www.pestgenie.com.au for more info by submitting the chemical name not the brand name

Happy trails !

We need some-one to build this ..... a combine harvester with an Ag-vac instead of a seed-bin.

The idea is to suck up as many as possible , I guess it would keep the operator going for days, the locusts would go through a hammermill to spread them back over the paddock ..... in liquid form, turn the buggers into fertilizer .

Sounds good mate but would only work until they begin to fly. Prolly better just to spray them and let them die on the ground. Much quicker that your idea. There are "green" sprays now that don't really have nasty chemicals in them so control can be harmless to the other critters.

Mid December 2005 was when they were here last on masse.
Kids tried different methods of capture :p .....here's their rotary butterfly net method ...didn't work either
Kids chasing Locusts Dec 2005 (hit the HighQuality/Res button or you won't see the locusts)
They swarmed through here for three solid days and haven't seen them since .....might this be their year again??

hmm , do we ask the government to get the unemployed/unemployable to "catch" these locusts to supply the zoos around their area before they get the dole ? Could do it with canetoads too...

I've been out spraying here the last few weekends (great way to spend a weekend, but the window of opportunity on the St John's and Thistle is closing fast) and have been very pleased to see almost no grasshoppers. In the bad years, they were jumping up as winter ended, and I'd be O/S teaching and getting emails about how they were just destroying the garden, the trees, everything.

We used tanglefoot on the planted trees in their last summer, and it certainly helped (against the scale-farming ants, too).

Thats a great bit of video. I guessing lots of laughter involved as well. Brought back many childhood farm memories of trying to control the elements! :rolleyes:

Don't laugh but I have a rubber tyred roller here that was used in regard to planting canola & lucerne etc being towed behind the planter to level & compress the soil surface.
If these little blighters come marching through here as has happened not so far away at Illabo I will be hooking up for a roll of a time
Happy trails !

I haven't seen any sign of them out here on the southern tablelands yet, thankfully.

I saw what I think was a locust while spraying SpraySeed yesterday evening. It was huge, and kind-of spotty. I only saw one, and sprayed the crap out of it.

I've been viewing the little hoppers with concern, these wingless grasshoppers are horrible and destructive when they swarm. But this thing was humungous, like a banana. ON the news tonight, they reckoned the plague locusts were just NW of here, just beyond the western range. It's a worry.

My badddd
didnt even know there was an Aricultural Weather Forum!

SO i guess this post can work.

what a way to end up a really bad season, i think u guys have suffered enough from the lack of rain let alone...locusts!

Driving through NSW last week to visit mates near Parkes. Heard of the plagues but hit a fair wack of them after passing Finley right though to Condobolin.

Yesterday saw the arrival of Plague Locusts for my area. Contrary to popular believe locusts go where the wind takes them these came flying in from the West into an Easterly breeze. They are still with us today & at one stage this afternoon when driving a wheat truck towards the West I thought I saw what was a cloud of dust in front but no, this was a cloud of locusts on the wing. A PP Board Ranger describing this site today of these pests as being one of the thickest he has seen this year. Now for a trial with the Charlie Carp !
Happy trails

Let us know if the Carp thing works. While spraying on Monday, I found some patches rife with small wingless grasshoppers. I don't think they're in damaging numbers like a few years ago, but you never know.